Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Social networks and knowledge creation in the built environment: a case study

Social networks and knowledge creation in the built environment: a case study Purpose – The production of the built environment, as any other industrial production, is a knowledge‐intensive process. Knowledge resides in many teams/parties who are involved in the creation or production process. This paper seeks to discuss the feasibility of social network analysis as a tool for understanding the process of knowledge creation through communication among team members in the construction industry. Design/methodology/approach – Following a literature review of the characteristics of innovation, knowledge and social networks in a built environment context, a case study is presented. The case study investigates the networks in one project team in a planning and engineering consultancy, employing 5,500 people worldwide. Findings – The network analysis revealed a problem with the project caused not by a widespread failure in social networks, but the isolated failure of one or two sub‐networks; however, these had a major impact on the performance of the project as a whole. The cause of this failure, while not clear, can be postulated as being in some part due to the lack of a collaborative culture across disciplines. Multi‐disciplinary projects are vulnerable because, while most (disciplinary) teams may function well, failure of just one will jeopardise the project as a whole – a chain is only as strong as the weakest link. Mechanisms do not exist for addressing failure, mid‐project, in social networks. The project‐centric nature of the sector is also an issue, in that project teams are in a constant state of flux with relationships being established, then staff moving on and a new set of relationships being developed. This does not support long‐term stable and trusting relationships. Originality/value – The paper concludes that the use of SNA techniques has practical benefits for inter‐ and intra‐transfer of knowledge and information among team members. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Structural Survey Emerald Publishing

Social networks and knowledge creation in the built environment: a case study

Mahtab Akhavan Farshchi; Mark Brown
Structural Survey , Volume 29 (3): 23 – Jul 12, 2011
Download PDF
23 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/social-networks-and-knowledge-creation-in-the-built-environment-a-case-T0zfb0OTv7

References (56)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
0263-080X
DOI
10.1108/02630801111148202
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – The production of the built environment, as any other industrial production, is a knowledge‐intensive process. Knowledge resides in many teams/parties who are involved in the creation or production process. This paper seeks to discuss the feasibility of social network analysis as a tool for understanding the process of knowledge creation through communication among team members in the construction industry. Design/methodology/approach – Following a literature review of the characteristics of innovation, knowledge and social networks in a built environment context, a case study is presented. The case study investigates the networks in one project team in a planning and engineering consultancy, employing 5,500 people worldwide. Findings – The network analysis revealed a problem with the project caused not by a widespread failure in social networks, but the isolated failure of one or two sub‐networks; however, these had a major impact on the performance of the project as a whole. The cause of this failure, while not clear, can be postulated as being in some part due to the lack of a collaborative culture across disciplines. Multi‐disciplinary projects are vulnerable because, while most (disciplinary) teams may function well, failure of just one will jeopardise the project as a whole – a chain is only as strong as the weakest link. Mechanisms do not exist for addressing failure, mid‐project, in social networks. The project‐centric nature of the sector is also an issue, in that project teams are in a constant state of flux with relationships being established, then staff moving on and a new set of relationships being developed. This does not support long‐term stable and trusting relationships. Originality/value – The paper concludes that the use of SNA techniques has practical benefits for inter‐ and intra‐transfer of knowledge and information among team members.

Journal

Structural Survey – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jul 12, 2011

Keywords: Social networks; Knowledge management; Built environment; Knowledge creation; Construction industries

There are no references for this article.